Safety approach to railroad crossings



Jail. 1926. v. 4 1,571,166

I J. MELLOR SAFETY APPROACH TQ RAILROAD CROSSINGS Filii June 12, 1924 INVENTOR Patented Jan. 26, 1926.

UNITED STATES JOHN MELLOR, OF BAY HEAD, JERSEY.

SAFETY APPROACH TO RAILROAD CROSSINGS.

Application filed June 12, 1924. Seria1 No.,719,489.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JoI-IN MnLLoR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bay Head, in the county of Ocean and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Approaches to Railroad Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in safety approaches to railroad crossings.

Accidents at railway crossings to automobilists occur principally from three causes: viz, first, the failure of the automobilists to slow down before crossing so as to have sufficient opportunity to look in both directions and to stop in case a train is approaching; second, the slowing down to such a low speed that the motor stalls while crossing the track, and third, the inability of the automobile driver, if moving at a speed which will not stall his motor, to stop before reaching the track when he sees a train approaching.

In accordance with my invention, I provide an approach to the railroad track by which the driver will be warned that he is about to cross the track or tracks and will be forced, by a short but relatively wide compulsory detour or branching of the road, to check his speed to such an extent before crossingas will not materially impede traffie but will enabl him to look up and down the tracks for approaching trains, and I also provide adjacent to the railroad track a safety spur road extending in the same general direction as the compulsory turn on the branch road whereby, in the event that the driver sees a train approaching he will be enabled todrive on and stop in order to save himself.

Another object of this invention, is to pro- -vide a safety approachwhich may be ar ranged closely adjacent to the tracks; will take up a minimum amount of space and will enablethe approach to be built within the limits of the crossing highway and the present roadway of the railway, thus saving the cost of purchasing adjacent property.

Another object of my invention is to provide a safety approach having a single detour-compelling guard and warning device for each side of the tracks which may be built at a very low cost and may, i.f desired, be built entirely of discarded or used railway ties.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby an automobile driver, even after havingstarted to cross the track, may turn back into the safety spur road.

Another object of my invention is to providemeans independent of the conventional lamp signal, whereby the light of an automobile headlight will be reflected to give a visible warning signal in case from any cause the lamp fails or becomes dead or is not fully visible.

Another object ofmy invention is to provide a warning visiblesignal for pedestrians which will be operative at night as well as .in daytime and will not be dependent upon the lighting of lamps and likedevices.

With these and-other objects in view my invention comprises the combination of members and arrangement of parts so combined as to co-act and cooperate with each other in the performance of the functions and the accomplishment of the results herein contemplated, and comprises in one of its adaptations the preferred form illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a safety approach to arailway er0ssing'embodyin'g' my invention; Fig. 2 Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a frontelevation of a fragment of the centerpost of the guard device shown in Figs. 1 and 2; i

Fig. sis asection on the line k l of Fig. 1,and a Fig. 15 is afragmentary view in perspective of the signal" posts shown in Fig.1.

Referring now to these drawings, which illustrate apreferred embodiment of my invention, 1 indicates para'llelrailroad tracks and 2 a highway intersecting the. railroad tracks 1. In the highway 2, on opposite sides of the railway, I erect a guard 3 preferably having an outline substantially similar to an isosceles triangle. The said guard is preferably arranged closely adjacent to the tracks and, as shown, the apex of the triangle is at the center of the road and the sides incline in opposite directions to a base which is parallel with and closely adjacent to the outside rail of the railroad tracks. This guard thus closes direct approach to the tracks from the highway 2, divides the highway at each of the opposite sides of the tracks into divergent branch roads l which merge into parallel track-crossing road poris a section on the 'line 2-2 of tions. This branching of the road compels vehicles and others traversing the highway to traverse one of such branches and thus to make a short detour or turn of relatively obtuse angularity to one side. of said guard 3. The compulsory detour or turn to the branch road compels an automobile driver to check his speed before reaching the railroad track and gives him an opportunity to look in both directions up and down the track for approaching trains. Under favorable conditions this checking of speed will enable the driver to stop before reaching the railroad tracks in case a train approaching. In many cases, however, it is inmossiblc to stop in a short distance between the time of see ing the train and reaching the track, and I therefore provide what I shall term a spur road 5 arranged parallel and closely adjacent to the track and extending in the same general direction of turning as the branch road or detour or turn 4-, so that in the event of danger from an approaching train, the motorist will have an opportunity to turn his vehicle and drive alongside of the track in the same direction as the train is going for a short distance, thus enabling him to stop without stalling his motor and also to avoid a collision with the train.

It will beseen that the branch road or turn 4 and spur 5 are both closely adjacent to the track and may be formed or built completely or substantially on railway right of way property. Furthermore this positioning of the branches close to the tracks enables the driver to approach the railroad with sufficient closeness to procure a proper view up and down the track and in most cases to stop on the branch road if he sees a train approachin In case of danger, however, and the inability to stop in time to avoid a collision with the train the spur road 5 enables him to proceed a short distance in the direction in which he is turning and parallel to the direction in which the train is going. He will thus have full opportunity to turn on to this spur and thereafter to stop in safety and may at his leisure turn around and proceed in safety.

It will be understood furthermore that the branch or turn 4 which is, as aforesaid, of obtuse angularity will cause the motorist to proceed cautiously without, however, slowing up to such an extent as to stall his motor while crossing the railroad track.

The junction between this spur road and the relatively short branch road is at the critical point at which the automobile driver must either stop or turn in order to avoid a collision, and at which the train will be so close to the crossing that he must of necessity see it.

The guard 33, in the preferred construction shown, is formed of three uprights or posts 3 arranged at the vertices of the triangle.

These posts 3 are joined by a series of side beams 3 and base beams 8 which are rein forced by inclined struts 3 and 3 Lamps (5 are mounted on the tops of each of the posts 8 and the post at the middle of the highway is preferably striped with black and light-colored stripes to indicate a railway-crossing. The light stripes are preferably coated with a luminous material so as to be readily visible at night to a pedestrian even. tl'iough the lamps may be out of order or dead.

I also preferably provide means to cause the guard 3 to become visible to an automobile driver even though the lamps are extinguished or dead and for this purpose I provide reflecting devices whereby the light rays of the automobile headlight will be reflected back to the car to give a visible warning signal, and in the preferred embodiment I embed in the face of the post a series of red prismatic reflectors 7 of the conventional type.

In the preferred embodiment of my in vention I also provide adjacent to the spur road 5, and on opposite sides of the rails 1" comprising the track 1, beams 8 and 9, each of which. has top surfaces inclining upwardly toward the rail whereby, in cases an automobile driver accidentally runs over one of the tracks, he will not have his wheel locked in by the rail but will be enabled to turn outwardly off the tracks and on to the spur road. The surface of each of the spur roads 5 is preferably inclined, as illustrated at 5, from the outer edge toward the railroad track so as to prevent any tendency of an automobile to skid toward the track.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I also provide a post 10 which is provided with a light deflecting element 11, 11 arranged in the path of the locomotive rays and having reflecting surfaces adapted to.

deflect rays from the locomotive headlight in opposite directions through lens 12-42, which may be colored red, along or in the direction of the highway road, thus giving a motorist proceeding along said highway road in either direction a visible warning signal that a locomotive is approaching.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A safety approach to a railroad crossing embodying a highway-road divided into two relatively short divergent branch roads, one of which branch roads merges with a dead end spur road extending substantially parallel. to the railroad track and in the same general direction of turning as the branch road with which it merges.

2. A safety approach to a railroad crossing embodying a highway-road divided into two relatively short divergent branch roads merging with two spaced crossing portions, one of which branch roads merges also with a dead end spur road extending substantially parallel to the railroad track and in the same general direction of turning as the branch road with which it merges.

3. A safety approach to a railroad crossing embodying a highway-road divided at a position closely adjacent to the railroad tracks into two relatively short branch roads diverging by relatively obtuse turns into parallel crossings extending in planes closely adjacent to the planes of the edges of the road, one of which branch roads merges with a dead end spur road extending substantially parallel to the railroad track and in the same general direction of turning as the branch road with which it merges.

A safety approach to a railroad crossing embodying a highway-road divided closely adjacent to the railroad tracks into two branch roads diverging by relatively obtuse turns, one of which branch roads merges with a spur road extending substantially parallel to the railroad track and in the same general direction of turning as the branch road with which it merges, and means for providing an inclined grade of the surface of the track on opposite sides of the outside rail along said spur.

5. A safety approach to a railroad crossing embodying a guard device having sub stantially the conformation of a triangle disposed with its base part closely adjacent and parallel to the railroad track and its apex substantially at the middle of a highway-road to divide the same into two relatively short divergent branches which merge with parallel track-crossing road-portions, one of which branches also merges with a dead end spur-road extending substantially parallel to the railroad track and in the same general direction of turning as the branch road With which it merges.

In witness whereof, I have signed my name to the foregoing specification.

JOHN MELLOR. 

